Actually, it is less....less one person. Casey and I arrived last night, a little late but that was OK. it was a very long flight--at least we were up for a long time. We always take morning flights but this time, because we were using miles, we could ony get a flight leaving at 2:20 pm which was delayed until 4pm. This didn't leave much connecting time in Chicago, but we made it with 15 minutes to spare. Then over the water we were on Lufthansa in business which has these quite uncomfortable slanting seat/beds--didn't sleep much. By the time we got to bed in Rome--well, actually, Fiumicino...we were up almost 30 hours. Wow...no wonder we were walking zombies.
So, back to why we are missing one person..Ken is still in D.C. He left San Diego yesterday morning, scheduled to arrive in Rome at 7:30 this morning. But, because of weather problems in D.C., his flight to Rome was cancelled. Now, he is still there and won't get out until 5 pm tonight getting here tomorrow morning--hopefully.
All hotels around the D.C. airport are fully booked so he is in the Red Carpet Club for 27 hours. He'll make our 30 hours seem like not much. Hopefully, he will get some sleep on the plane--United has lay-flat beds.
We had a reservation at a lovely BandB in the hilltop town of Casperia tonight-- we really had looked forward to a super nice beginning of our trip. Now Casey and I are enscounced at the Hilton Airport Gatden Inn, awaiting Ken's arrival. At least the hotel is air-conditioned and a nice room with free wifi.
So, domani (tomorrow, for people with less Italian than even I) we will head to our most favorite retreat, Sant Antonio, outside of Montepulciano. There we will relax, enjoy our friends, Nico and Elena, eat well and know that life is good with just a few small bumps to let us appreciate it even more. Can't think of a better place to experience the good.
Now, let's pray that Ken does get out tonight! Let the vacation begin!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
My Prayer
Prayer is vital to my life. I believe that it is heard and answered--whether or not to my liking. Often I tell God what I want and how he can accomplish this desire, need, want, whatever. Foolish? Yep! But, oh so human.
So, along with my regular prayers for friends' health, safe travels, the work of missionaries, children's wayward ways, solace and comfort for peoples' sorrows, my spiritual growth, and more, I have added another urgency for the time being.
Please, Lord, help Casey mature between now and the start of school in September. Please?!
Prepare him to do his homework (all of it) out of personal motivation rather than parental oversight and prodding. Teach him to be joyful in geometry, Spanish, English, California history, science--not just in gym class. Let him please his teachers--even those who are difficult to please..and, heaven knows that there are these.
Help him to understand that yes, he is only 13 and in the 8th grade but....what he does now counts and helps to determine his future. How he performs in these classes dictates where he will be placed in high school. Give him that unnatural ability to see the future in terms of his achievement, effort and depth of focus and desire.
He still wants to build with his legos, explore the creek below the park, play challenging games on his DS, improve in karate--in short, do all those things 13 year olds should do with their time. But...today's kids are being robbed of their childhoods by adults who forget their own childhoods. They are taking classes where teachers advise parents at the start of the year that it will be to the students' advantage to hire a tutor that year.Why? Because in the past, this 7th grade class, was not taught until high school.
The freedom to be Tom or Huck is long gone, but the heart of the boy that lived in them still beats in the boy of 2011. So, although my prayer is that Casey will grapple with and grow in self-motivation in his school work and accomplishments, we will see that he still has time for the boy things.
So, that is my prayer right now--a growing maturity that still allows for the joys and fun of being a kid. I believe that my God wants that, too, and will hear my prayer with a smile and a "yes."
So, along with my regular prayers for friends' health, safe travels, the work of missionaries, children's wayward ways, solace and comfort for peoples' sorrows, my spiritual growth, and more, I have added another urgency for the time being.
Please, Lord, help Casey mature between now and the start of school in September. Please?!
Prepare him to do his homework (all of it) out of personal motivation rather than parental oversight and prodding. Teach him to be joyful in geometry, Spanish, English, California history, science--not just in gym class. Let him please his teachers--even those who are difficult to please..and, heaven knows that there are these.
Help him to understand that yes, he is only 13 and in the 8th grade but....what he does now counts and helps to determine his future. How he performs in these classes dictates where he will be placed in high school. Give him that unnatural ability to see the future in terms of his achievement, effort and depth of focus and desire.
He still wants to build with his legos, explore the creek below the park, play challenging games on his DS, improve in karate--in short, do all those things 13 year olds should do with their time. But...today's kids are being robbed of their childhoods by adults who forget their own childhoods. They are taking classes where teachers advise parents at the start of the year that it will be to the students' advantage to hire a tutor that year.Why? Because in the past, this 7th grade class, was not taught until high school.
The freedom to be Tom or Huck is long gone, but the heart of the boy that lived in them still beats in the boy of 2011. So, although my prayer is that Casey will grapple with and grow in self-motivation in his school work and accomplishments, we will see that he still has time for the boy things.
So, that is my prayer right now--a growing maturity that still allows for the joys and fun of being a kid. I believe that my God wants that, too, and will hear my prayer with a smile and a "yes."
For the record, he did achieve this year. And..we are proud of him.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Photo trial
Ignore this post. I am testing posting pictures via Blog Press for a friend.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Self Talk--How Useful Is It?
I haven't spent much time in life talking to myself. Such moments have pretty much been confined to self-recrimination when I've done something monumentally idiotic or when someone else has--like the driver in front of me. Of course, then, I am talking to him but he doesn't hear me. How could he with the mobile stuck to his ear?
Lately, though, I find myself in one way conversations much of the time. Not that I realize it right away. In fact, it may be hours before I make the discovery. It's the 12 year old in the house syndrome which I am becoming reacquainted with after a 28 year hiatus. How could I have so completely forgotten those days? Willingly, I think.
These dialogues go something like this....Casey, you need to pick up all that stuff from the floor....Yes, you can do it while you watch TV but make sure you get it done. (My mistake, I know.) Not until bedtime when I go back to that part of the house, do I discover that the only thing he heard was...you can watch TV.
Did I imagine the earlier conversation? Well, in a way, yes....it wasn't a conversation, was it?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Lately, though, I find myself in one way conversations much of the time. Not that I realize it right away. In fact, it may be hours before I make the discovery. It's the 12 year old in the house syndrome which I am becoming reacquainted with after a 28 year hiatus. How could I have so completely forgotten those days? Willingly, I think.
These dialogues go something like this....Casey, you need to pick up all that stuff from the floor....Yes, you can do it while you watch TV but make sure you get it done. (My mistake, I know.) Not until bedtime when I go back to that part of the house, do I discover that the only thing he heard was...you can watch TV.
Did I imagine the earlier conversation? Well, in a way, yes....it wasn't a conversation, was it?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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